Improvement in automatic boiler-feeders



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEOA BRANTLY GHALFANT, OF WlLLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPRCVENIENT IN AUTOMATIC BOILER-FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 56,706, dated July 3l, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, BRANTLY GHALEANT, of Williamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Automatic BoilenFeeder; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying' drawingns7 forming part of4 this specication, in which- Figure l represents a vertical central section of this invention, the line a' x, Fig.` 3, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same, taken in the plane indicated by the line y y, Fig.1. Fig. i is an inverted plan of the cap detached. Fig. 5 is a plan or top view of the chambered barrel detached. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the seat detached, the line z z, Fig. l, indicating the plane of section.

, Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to a boiler-feeder composed of a barrel with three or more chambers, and placed Vin an inclined position between a -cap and seat, said cap being provided with threepipes, one to communicate with the steamboiler on a levell with the mean water-line, one to communicate with the water-tank, and one 'with the open air, and the seat being provided with one pipe which extends to the water-space of the boiler, in combination with suitable channels leading to the different chambers in the barrel, in such a manner that said chambers are alternately lled and discharged whenever the water in the boiler sinks below the main water-line, the barrel being made to revolve by the gravity of the water admit-ted to one of the chambers after the other, and by these means the level of the water in the boiler can be preserved with the greatest nicety, and no further attention is required after the feeder has been adjusted. V

A represents a barrel, which is divided in three or more chambers, c b c, by longitudinal partitions, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3. This barrel is placed in an inclined position, and its upper end is fitted into a cap, B, whereas its bottom end is stepped into a socket 0r seat, C,

said cap and seat being secured to an inclined standard, D.

In order to make thejoints between the ends of the barrel and the inner surfaces of the cap and seat tight, the cap is attached to the standard in such a manner that it is free to slide down toward the seat, and a wedge, E', is placed over it, which, by its own gravity, depresses the cap and keeps the joints tight, the

joint at the .bottom of the barrel being kept tight by the gravity of the barrel itself.

The chambers a, b c are open at top and bottom; but they are so arranged that'the contents occupies the highest position. The pipeFleads to the supply-tank, the pipe E to the boiler to be supplied with water, communicating with its interior on a level with the m'ean waterline, a'nd the pipe G leads to the open atmosphere. The pipe H, extending from the seat G, communicates with that chamber which happens to occupy the lowest position through the channel g, and it leads to the Water-space of the boiler to be supplied.

The operation is as follows: The water admitted to the supply-tank descends-through the pipe F, and enters one or two of the chambers of the barrel, until the side containing said chamber becomes sufficiently heavy to overcome the friction of the journals, when the barrel will commence to rotate, and, before a chamber comes quite to the lower center, `connection is cut off with the tank, and the water ceases to enter that chamber, but begins to enter the 'next chamber higher up the side, and thereby the vessel is made to rotate. As soon as the lower chamber passes beyond the lower center connection with the boiler is opened through both pipes E and H, and if the water in the boiler is below the mean Water-line steam passes into the upper part of the chamber of the barrel, and the Water contained therein works down in the boiler. lf the water in the boiler is not below the mean water-line the water is retained in the chamber and the barrel remains stationary.

After one of the chambers has emptied the barrel continues to revolve, and communicaing a series of chambers in a common barrel, said chambers might be arranged round a common center without a shell, and the same result would be obtained.

What I claim as new, and desire Ato secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The many-chambered barrel A, placed in an oblique position between suitable bearings, and provided with pipes E F G H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The self-tightening key E', in combination with the standard D, cap B, and barrel A, constructed substantially as and for the purposes described.

' lBRANTLY CHALFANT.

Witnesses A. S. WAGNER, J. W. FULLER. 

